Moonlit Paws
by sammidixon
Summary: When Starlit is facing a throne of responsibility, can she put aside her personal qualms against her chosen mate or will her resistance drive her into the arms of someone who can singlehandedly destroy her way of life?


**I do not own the basis of this plot, a salute to Annette Curtis Klause for her creation of this beautiful world! I've just added a little spin of my own to her story.

A/N: I do not have a Beta yet so please know that only I have edited this prior to uploading it! Please leave reviews of your opinions, I'd like to know if this is something anyone else would like to see develop aside from myself :)

_**Chapter 1**_

__I lay on my bed trying to grasp any cool air my ceiling fan would provide to my room. The attempt was to no prevail.I pulled my legs over the side of the bed and got into the shower before Heidi woke. Being the older sister, she is the only one left of my blood relatives. Her and I had a special connection because of that, however our personalities couldn't have been more different. Where I inwardly judged myself, she probably couldn't point out a flaw on herself. Sometimes I idolized that confidence, other times I wanted to stab her for it. At times I could have sworn I was the older one by four years rather than it being the other way around.

In the shower I didn't bother adjusting the temperature to match a commonly agreed upon warmth. Instead I left it on ice cold, knowing that my internal thermometer could handle the chill. Just as I predicted, when I got out from beneath the icy water my body didn't even shiver to the sudden temperature change. I looked out the window in the bathroom and noticed already that it was going to be a very dreary day. Most likely it was going to rain, but it wasn't the nice refreshing cool rain, it was going to be a hot and stuffy rain. I could already feel the stuffiness creep onto my skin just looking out the window. I dried off and headed downstairs to make my breakfast, and when I was toasting a bagel I heard a knock at the front door. My eyes flashed to clock above the fireplace and saw that it was 7:00 in the morning. When I opened the door I tried to immediately shut it closed but they pushed through. There was too many of them. It was my annoying age mates, Cullen pushed through first followed closely followed by Seth and Liam.

"Morning, Star." Liam said politely as the other two filed into the kitchen smelling the bagel. I made an acknowledging noise towards Liam and followed them into the kitchen. Cullen was eating my bagel while the others searched the small kitchen for something else to eat.

"Cullen, you son of a-"

"Be nice, Star." Cullen warned, his eyes tempting me to reach for the bagel.

"Just give it to me." I said holding my hand out towards him.

"You have to come and get it." Cullen said with his mouth open, clearly wanting a little something extra in payment.

"In your dreams, dog." I spat at him heading to the cabinet to find some cereal. Heidi stood in the doorway to the kitchen looking her best, she never left anywhere looking anything less than perfect.

"Mornin' boys." She said, slinking across the kitchen to get milk. They returned the greeting but their gaze dropped from her face to her butt. I rolled my eyes and spoke up,

"Oh my Moon. Get a life. All of you."

"Don't be jealous Star, we give both sisters equal attention and adoration." Seth said shoving a piece of bread wrapped in sausage down his throat.

"Save it for someone else." I growled.

"Suit yourself." Seth teased. I rolled my eyes and dumped my bowl into the sink to be washed.

"I'm heading out." I said to Heidi who was reading a magazine at the table.

"Where?" she asked, not bothering to look up from the magazine she was flipping through.

"Somewhere. I'll be back by nightfall." I grabbed my book and slammed the door behind me hoping to give the boys the signal to not follow. They probably understood the motion but that only made them more curious and annoying. Their footsteps were heard right behind me and just as quick they were walking in tune with my fast pace.

"Get lost." I snapped. I just wasn't in the mood to deal with them today, and I wasn't sure if they were especially annoying this morning or if I was just extremely irritable. Probably a little of both.

"Where're you going?" Cullen asked kicking a rock that went sailing into the nearby forest. I considered lying, and then I thought that maybe the truth would be boring enough to make them leave me alone.

"The chapel. Now leave." I said sternly.

"You know that Gavin will want you next to him at the Festival tonight." Cullen spoke up.

"Well, news flash. I don't do anything because _Gavin_ wants me to. I will be at the Festival for my own reasons. Gavin can mind his own damn business. That goes for you, too." I snarled and picked up the pace, loving the feeling of pushing my body.

"Now, Star. I'm obviously just looking out for you. You can't keep pushing Gavin away like that. You've got to realize that you belong to him. Even your parents did that for you - "

"Leave my parents out of this!" I growled, whipping around and stalking towards him. "You have no right to harass me with that because it is absolutely none of your business. I suggest that you get lost, preferably into the river." I spit at the ground in front of him and pulled my hood up as I took off running towards the chapel. I had always had a flair for drama, and the instinct driven by emotion that lurked inside of me didn't really help that aspect of my personality. Luckily, my point was made loud and clear. I didn't hear the guys pursuing me so I finally let out a deep breath and started to enjoy the run.

Despite the heat of the day, the sky started to rain. I tilted my head up to feel the raindrops gently kiss my soft face. The steady rainfall calmed my anger as I ran through the suburbs of the city. A dirt path that showed me the way ran along the side of the forest, I knew it so well that I could close my eyes and not find any fault in my step. I jumped up off the ground, kicking my foot onto a tree and then launched myself off the side, and hit the ground still running. Using my body like this made me feel alive, the physicality and the exertion made my blood pump fire. I felt eyes on my back coming from the forest and I had learned to welcome the feeling of being watched. You were never really alone, even if you were. Not when you were part of a pack.

The run worked off some steam and I knew I needed to start running at least three times a day to stay in a good mindset. I felt truly at peace, with the help of the steady rain drops constantly hitting my bare skin. While running, I peeled off my tank top so that I simply ran in my sports bra and Nike shorts. Modesty wasn't a very prominent feeling when you lived like we did. When you were like us. I was proud of my body and didn't mind showing it off, odds were that the eyes I felt didn't think twice about my bare skin. It was natural. Our family was used to a more natural way of living, and baring skin wasn't automatically classified in a sexual conclusion.

I licked my lips, loving the sensation of the air touching my abdomen as I continued my run. I would be arriving at the chapel any second and I cherished the end of the run, the pumping adrenaline that you get when you push your body to do what it was meant to do. Finally, I came up to a forest clearing with trees surrounding the beautiful building. It was old from age being more than 300 years. Vines grew up from the ground climbing on the walls of the ancient chapel. It was made of stone and had long since turned into ruin. My family had discovered it, buried within the woods. Realizing that it wasn't actively taken care of, I started visiting it and soon enough made it my favorite place to be.

I was in love with the chapel, it made me feel like not everything was lost. It had a comfortable and protecting aura surrounding it. Inside was even more beautiful than the outside. Great oak pews sat in rows staring towards the center back of the chapel. A podium stood proudly, though it had long been abandoned. The ceiling was high and strong, the whole chapel had that calm feel to it. I walked down the aisle in between the pews, letting my hand drift across the old oak. I met the podium and walked past it, up a spiral staircase in the corner. A few seconds of darkness and then I came out on a balcony that over-looked the massive room. There was a thick banister that came to about hip height, allowing you to lean over and see the rest of the chapel below. I climbed up onto the banister, sitting down so I could look over the chapel. I closed my eyes and let loose a long sigh. My thoughts wondered aimlessly finally coming across the Festival that was going to be held tonight.


End file.
